After a turbulent 2023 marked by job cuts by massive tech corporations, 2024 might see a extra optimistic outlook for IT professionals within the U.Okay. Tech employees on the lookout for new roles could discover there may be explicit demand for synthetic intelligence and cloud experience, in addition to a necessity for softer expertise round communications and managing groups.
Is there a scarcity of IT expertise within the UK?
There was a long-term IT expertise scarcity within the U.Okay. About two million folks within the U.Okay. work in tech, however there’s nonetheless demand for extra.
Based on U.Okay. authorities figures, the extent of “skills-shortage vacancies,” which is the place a job can’t be stuffed resulting from a scarcity of expertise, {qualifications} or expertise amongst candidates, could be very excessive within the data and communications sector; it climbed from an already excessive 25% in 2017 to 43% in 2022, the final 12 months for which knowledge is offered. And there’s loads of proof that the IT expertise shortages proceed. Even when the depth of the scarcity varies from 12 months to 12 months, there’s a transparent long-term want for extra tech employees within the U.Okay.
Analysis by Amazon Net Companies in 2023 discovered that greater than two thirds (68%) of UK companies discovered it difficult to rent the digital employees they want, and 45% stated this was resulting from a scarcity of certified candidates. A separate latest survey by Gigged.AI discovered that 91% of respondents to its UK survey have been grappling with a tech expertise scarcity to a point; roughly a 3rd (34%) stated they confronted large-to-very-large tech expertise shortages.
What are probably the most in-demand tech jobs and expertise within the UK for 2024?
Most in-demand tech jobs within the UK
Six tech jobs made LinkedIn’s Jobs on the Rise 2024 listing of the highest 25 jobs within the U.Okay. which might be most in demand.
- Synthetic intelligence engineer (#7 on LinkedIn’s listing).
- Safety operations heart analyst (#10).
- Cyber safety supervisor (#11).
- Cyber safety architect (#15).
- Information governance supervisor (#16).
- Information engineer (#25).
Different jobs on the highest 25 listing additionally had some involvement with tech, similar to sustainability supervisor at #1, chief income officer at #4 and demand technology supervisor at #8.
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Based on the 2024 Wage Information analysis from recruitment firm Robert Half, probably the most in-demand everlasting tech jobs within the U.Okay. are:
- Full-stack developer.
- ERP/CRM engineer.
- Head of IT.
- Cloud infrastructure engineer.
- Cyber safety analyst.
Essentially the most in-demand contract tech jobs within the U.Okay., in response to Robert Half, are:
- ERP/CRM implementation venture supervisor.
- Infrastructure supervisor.
- Community engineer.
- First-line help.
- Second-line help.
Most in-demand tech expertise within the UK
Robert Half analysis stated probably the most in-demand technical expertise for 2024 within the U.Okay. are:
- Cloud computing, together with Amazon Net Companies, Azure and Google Cloud.
- Microsoft Dynamics.
- Netsuite.
- SAP.
- Python.
- SQL.
Kris Harris, regional director of U.Okay. know-how options at Robert Half, advised TechRepublic in an electronic mail that there was additionally a lot of curiosity in cybersecurity, machine studying and AI, knowledge dealing with and storytelling, which incorporates manipulation and visualization. As well as, consumer expertise design and cloud information are nonetheless widespread expertise with employers. He stated there had been a slight decline in on-premise infrastructure and community expertise, that are largely being changed by cloud information.
“The uptick in cloud-based assets can be decreasing a few of the want for knowledge centre operatives in addition to these with bodily machine administration capabilities. Wanting forward, it’s doubtless that we’ll additionally see a decline in conventional community engineering/system admin calls for as we transfer in the direction of extra knowledge, cyber and cloud necessities,” Harris stated.
What’s the highest paying IT job within the UK?
Chief Info Officer tops the listing of highest paying IT jobs within the U.Okay., with many salaries ranging between £105,000 and £176,000; nevertheless, Chief Expertise Officers, Chief Info Safety Officers and Chief Architect roles all have comparable pay ranges relying on the scale of the organisation. For comparability, a front-end developer can anticipate to earn someplace between £44,000 and £76,000, stated the Robert Half knowledge.
What’s the outlook for IT jobs within the UK in 2024 and past?
Harris stated there’ll nonetheless be a excessive demand for expert know-how assets, largely pushed by SME companies.
“Enterprise platform enhancements, optimisation of information and the continued requirement for enterprise know-how development will stay. We’re at the moment seeing sectors similar to SaaS, training, healthcare, monetary providers and retail, in addition to the federal government, all investing in tech growth, and we don’t anticipate this to alter any time quickly,” he stated.
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Recruitment firm Nash Squared stated one rising development that will turn out to be more and more frequent in future years is fractional working. That is primarily the place a person works on a contract or contractor foundation however has a portfolio of part-time assignments concurrently.
“It’s a longtime mode for sure senior roles — similar to a fractional CISO or CIO — however is starting to unfold additional down the layers of the workforce to incorporate extra junior positions,” stated Andy Heyes, managing director UK&I and Central Europe at Harvey Nash, a part of Nash Squared.
“By partaking a fractional govt, companies can extra surgically apply their skilled capabilities, driving up effectivity and pushing down useful resource prices. For a lot of firms, it’s merely accessing a extremely skilled skilled who has the scars and bruises of getting executed it earlier than, is aware of the place the pitfalls are, and the techniques which have confirmed outcomes, and that in and of itself can save an excessive amount of time, cash, and cut back danger,” he advised TechRepublic in an electronic mail. Whereas that is nonetheless comparatively uncommon within the UK, he stated, it’s extra frequent in Europe.
What tech expertise must you be taught in 2024?
Tech is a fast-moving trade, which signifies that what’s sizzling proper now may not be so thrilling to employers in a couple of years time. Nevertheless, it’s doubtless that AI, cloud computing and cybersecurity will proceed to create regular demand over the following few years. It’s additionally value keeping track of the listing of high programming languages: at the moment, Python, C, C++, Java and C# are the preferred languages with builders, in response to the TIOBE Index.
It’s additionally key to do not forget that softer expertise are important when altering jobs, and constructing on these will assist to future-proof your CV. Based on Robert Half, probably the most in-demand comfortable expertise for tech employees are communication expertise, stakeholder administration and other people administration. As well as, IT leaders stated it’s arduous to search out candidates with strategic pondering and enterprise expertise, so that is probably an space the place you possibly can stand out.